Higher parking fees will boost public transit

Letter-writer Troy Shinbrot criticizes my suggestion ("How parking fees can reduce teacher workloads," Dec. 11) that teachers unions offer to pay for parking in return for benefits from management. He regards his $555 annual payment for parking at Rutgers as a "cut in pay." But if effective transit alternatives were available to him, he would not only avoid that $555, he would save a much larger amount on automobile costs. And sufficiently high parking charges, if imposed on a daily basis, would help generate the cost-saving transit alternative.

To reiterate a comment I wrote last week, I reap financial gains from transit alternatives - and as a proud union member, I want other union members to enjoy the same benefits.

In addition to Brian de Uriarte (former president of the faculty union at Middlesex Community College), Tony Nelessen, a professor of urban planing at Rutgers, supports higher parking fees. Four colleagues at my own college, whose views span the ideological spectrum, take the same position.

Mr. Shinbrot states, "....the problem with education is not parking." In fact, a paper I wrote, "Parking Across the Curriculum," demonstrates that issues of land use and transportation go to the very heart of education; the paper can be accessed at www.raritanvalley.edu/aronsonarticles.

Feedback from readers on my series is welcome, as it provides the opportunity to not only clarify, but also reinforce my message.